Limitation of the quantity of myocardium damage due to ischemic disease is important in caring for patients with coronary artery disease not only for lowering the immediate mortality rate but also for leaving those who have suffered coronary occlusions with a greater quantity of viable myocardium. There has been experimentation with therapeutic agents aimed at achieving this goal. Nitroglycerin, hyaluronidase, corticosteroids, heparin, mannitol and others have been used in certain areas of the heart after myocardial infarction. Such drugs have not been found to be complete cures for the problems encountered. The drugs have different mechanisms of action which include decreasing myocardial oxygen requirements to maintain viability, increasing myocardial oxygen supply, augmented anaerobic metabolism and protection against autolytic and heterolytic processes.
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) was first isolated and purified from bovine pituitary glands by Gospodarowicz, D., 1975, J. Biol. Chem, Vol. 250, No. 7,2515-2520 and Nature, Vol. 249, May 10, 1974, 123-127. It has in the past been used as a mitogenic agent for a variety of mesodermal cells in vitro. It has been experimented with to increase vascularization in the cornea of laboratory animals. Its use has not in the past been suggested for reducing the cross-sectional infarct size in myocardial infarct cases.